Chapter Two: Getting Help

A/N: To antiIRONY just to let you know, you can tell you're pregnant after two weeks…it takes two weeks from conceiving for you to actually be able to know by taking a home pregnancy test…any time before that, it'll be negative. I already have the first four chapters of the story written and many more ideas for it…hope you like how it goes.

It had been two days since I told Marco the news. News that I never thought I'd be telling anyone until I was about twenty-five. After I told him, he sat down next to me in shock, but held me in his arms while I cried.

I was now sitting on my bed, snapping the rubber band around my wrist. I couldn't tell her. My mother is the main reason that I cut, and if I told her that I was pregnant, I don't know what she'd do. She'd probably hurt me and the baby. I had to get out. But where would I go?

Marco was the only person I hung out with. Ashley tried to be friends with me when I first moved here, but she got increasingly annoying, so I decided that I'd rather have only one friend. I doubted that Marco's parents would let me live there, especially since I was pregnant. We both decided not to tell his parents because I didn't want them to disown him or anything. Plus, if they found out he was gay, that would push them completely over the edge.

Despite his sexuality, Marco still wanted to be a part of my life and the baby's life. We were way too young to get an apartment together, and didn't have money to do it anyway. So here I was, Eleanor Nash, fifteen and pregnant, and I had nowhere to go. For the time being, I decided to just stick it out at home, and leave the minute I started showing. I had about three or four months to get my shit together.

"Eleanor!" My mom screamed from the living room. "Get me another bottle!" I silently obeyed her, taking a bottle of whatever she was drinking out of the cabinet. I was always tempted to take a sip, drink a shot, a glass full, or even get wasted with her. But I never did. And I definitely couldn't do it now that I was going to have a baby. I knew that stuff would hurt it. I brought my mother the bottle and she ripped it out of my hands, taking a long swig of it before passing out on the floor. I was too small to lift her onto the couch, so I did what I did every night. I put a pillow under her head, covered her with a blanket, and moved the empty bottles away from her so she didn't roll over onto them, crushing them and hurting herself.

"I'm going out," I whispered to her as if she could hear me. "I'll be back by eleven." I looked at the clock over the television. It was only seven o'clock. I had plenty of time. My first stop was Marco's house, where I climbed up to his window like I always do.

"Ellie!" he snapped at me when he let me in. "What did I tell you about climbing up that thing?"

"It could hurt me and/or the baby so I shouldn't do it anymore," I said, mocking him.

"So you climbed it because…"

"I don't know! I did it out of habit. I've got more important things to talk to you about. Like our child…" I patted my stomach and sighed.

"You're not thinking of…getting rid of it…are you?" he asked me, a little panicked to say the least.

"Of course not!" I hissed at him. "Why would you think that?" I almost started to cry, but began snapping the rubber band instead.

"Stop that El! It's disgusting and weird," he told me. I rolled my eyes. If he knew what else I do to myself, he'd be a little more disgusted with me.

"Listen Marco, I have to get out of my house," I told him. "I can't tell my mom about all of this."

"I know how she is, but maybe you should give her a chance. She might take it better than you think," he tried to reason with me.

"Yeah right. And then you'd be at my house picking up the pieces of my body," I joked.

"Don't even joke about that stuff. It's not funny," he said angrily.

"Sorry, I just do that when I'm nervous. But anyway, I have no idea what I'm gonna do," I told him once again.

"Marco! Time for dinner!" Mrs. Del Rossi yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

"I'll be down in a minute!" he yelled to his mom. Then he turned back to me. "We gotta get you out of here."

"I'll just climb down," I said. "One last time," I added when he gave me 'the look.'

"Fine, but promise me that you'll knock on the front door next time."

"I promise. I love you Marco," I said as I swung a foot out over the window sill.

"I love you too Ellie," he said to me with a sympathetic look on his face. "Call my cell whenever you get home, we'll have to talk about all of this."

"I will bye." I disappeared out the window and out of his view. I decided where I could go to talk to an adult, but I felt weird about it. I knew this girl at DCS but we weren't really friends. But I also knew that her mom could possibly help me out.

Ten minutes later, I found myself knocking on Emma Nelson's door. She's the one that opened it and stared at me in surprise.

"Ellie…what are you doing here?" she asked me.

"I sort of need to talk to your mom…" I trailed off, letting my eyes shift around. She could tell I was upset. She led me into the kitchen where her mom was sitting at the table, reading a book.

"Mom, this is Ellie. She wants to talk to you I guess," Emma said and left me alone with her mother.

"Hello Ellie. I haven't heard very much about you." She said and motioned for me to sit down. That's probably because your daughter thinks I'm some kind of freak, I thought to myself.

"I'm new this year," I told her. Then an awkward silence fell over the room. I didn't know how to start or even what to ask her. She started for me.

"What is it that you need to talk about?" she asked me. I stared at my feet and moved my hand to snap the rubber band again. But I remembered where I was and stopped myself.

"Well…" I started to say. "I heard that you, uh, had Emma at a young age, and I was hoping maybe you could help me out but I think that I shouldn't have come here, my mom's probably worried, I should go," I said, all in one sentence. I stood up to go, but Mrs. Nelson put her hand on my arm. I sat back down.

"Ellie, are you pregnant?" she asked me. Before I could answer, Mr. Simpson walked into the room. I had almost forgotten that they were married. Oh great, the last thing I need is a teacher knowing all about this.

"Hello Ellie," he said happily. Good, he hadn't heard what his wife just said. "What brings you here?" he asked me.

"She just wanted to talk to me," Mrs. Nelson…or Simpson…whatever, told him. I was so thankful that she didn't blurt my secret out.

"To answer your question, yes," I told her. "But I should get going now, really." Before anyone could stop me, I bolted out of the house, praying that Emma's mom wouldn't go blabbing to her husband and daughter. I arrived at my house around nine, surprising myself that I would go home so early. My mother was still in the same spot I had left her in, which comforted me.

I ran into my room and flopped on the bed, dialing Marco's cell phone number like I promised.

"You would not believe what I just did. Don't be mad," I told him as soon as he answered.